On Sunday, July 30, some of the best bands in the area gathered for one last round to see which band could take home the prizes.
Prizes included $1,000 cash and $1,000 in prizes amongst other treats for first place. No one leaves empty handed though, even fourth place got $200.
At the wild card night, a week before the finals, where some of the second place bands got one more chance to be in the finals, the Karg boys took over without even having a band behind them.
The Karg boys, who usually show up with a stage full of people for their over-the-top performances, showed up without their group and played all acoustic.
They beat out Crisis Apparition, who put on a great second show, covered “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath, and gave us all the metal one would need. The Running also got a second chance at the wild card night but couldn’t topple the huge scores from the judges even though they played wonderfully and covered Sublime’s “Caress Me Down.”
The Karg Boys, with their second chance at glory, was the first band of the night at the finals and they were back in full force with their band behind them like usual. They opened with “Take it Easy” by the Eagles and they played it accurately to their style. Their set was full of great guitar playing and excellent harmonies. They pulled a great crowd in to the Bluesboro and gave us one of the greatest performances of this battle.
Up next was Destroy by Design a hard rock group from near Nashville who tied with Sky Hi at the semifinals.
These guys work harder than anyone else in the market and their crowd does too. Once again DBD pulled a great crowd and put on an awesomely energetic show. They covered the Deftones and Rage Against the Machine effortlessly which were well suited to their style.
The highlight of the night was when the crowd, who did not even know that there were cops perusing the Bluesboro, requested DBD’s “Police State.” This songs main line is F*ck The Police and the band or the crowd did not hesitate in singing straight to the boys in blue.
Third up for the night was the Murfreesboro favorite Sky Hi, who tore the place up once again with their funky grooves that make so many people want to dance. They had the largest crowd of the evening and they also did not hesitate to funk it up. Sky Hi put on a memorable show full of spunk and funk.
Sharif Iman from Nashville was the closing act of the night and once again opened with their cover of “Creep” by Radiohead. They also played the Foo Fighters’ “Learn to Fly.”
Sharif had a brand new guitar player, but there was no change in songwriting and style. I believe that the new lineup had a lot to do with why the set wasn’t as tight and intricate as usual though. Sharif put on a great show anyway but just didn’t pull enough people out to compete.
After all the numbers were crunched, Bluesboro owner Rob Fortney announced Sky Hi as the winner of the Rockstar Band Battle.
The Karg Boys followed in second, Destroy by Design in third and Sharif Iman took fourth place in the battle.
